A team of researchers has discovered a gene for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, a disorder consisting of mental retardation, heart defects and a number of physical abnormalities.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
New Study Finds Babies Born to Mothers Who Drink Alcohol Heavily May Suffer Permanent Nerve Damage
Newborns whose mothers drank alcohol heavily during pregnancy had damage to the nerves in the arms and legs, according to a study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health.
Compounds Prevent Alcohol's Disruption of Important Developmental Process
Two experimental compounds prevent one of the cellular events that is a likely contributor to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
Mouse With Rett Syndrome May Provide Model for Testing Treatments, Understanding Disorder
Scientists funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have developed a new mouse model for Rett syndrome - a heartbreaking disorder which gradually robs apparently healthy infants of their language, mental functioning, and ability to interact with others.
Infant Mortality Rate Drops, Children More Likely to Have A Working Parent, Be Read to, Report Says
Children in America are less likely to die during infancy than they were in previous years, less likely to smoke in 8th or 10th grade, and less likely to give birth during adolescence, according to the 6th annual report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2002.
Possible Gene for Form of Mental Retardation, Brain Development Identified
Researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have come one step closer to identifying one of the causes of previously unexplained mental retardation.
Study Confirms Secretin No More Effective Than Placebo in Treating Autism Symptoms
The latest in a series of studies on secretin has failed to show that giving the digestive hormone to children with autism alleviates symptoms of the disorder, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Autism Fact Sheets Now Available from NICHD
A series of fact sheets describing the latest research findings on autism is now available from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Researchers Find New Insights Into the Genetic Foundations of Autism
In collaboration with their European colleagues, scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have come one step closer to determining the genetic basis for autism.
NICHD Funded Researchers First to Genetically Modify Non Human Primate
Researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health have completed the first successful effort to introduce a new gene into the unfertilized eggs of rhesus monkeys, a member of the family of mammals that includes human beings.
Researchers Identify Gene Common to Many Autism Cases
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene that may predispose people to developing autism.
Stress Hormone Linked to Increased Alcohol Consumption in Animal Model
Researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development report in the current issue of Alcoholism: Cinical and Experimental Research (Volume 24, Number 5) results from the first study to determine whether future drinking may be predicted by response to stress during infancy.
Study Shows Secretin Fails to Benefit Children with Autism
The first of a number of studies sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has shown that treatment with a synthetic version of the hormone secretin offered no more benefit for children with autism than did treatment with a placebo.
NICHD Funded Researchers Discover Gene for Rett Syndrome
Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Stanford University have discovered the gene for Rett syndrome, a heartbreaking disorder which gradually robs healthy infant girls of their language, mental functioning, and ability to interact with others.
Hypothyroidism During Pregnancy Linked to Lower IQ for Child Early Diagnosis & Treatment May Help
Children born to mothers with untreated hypothyroidism during pregnancy score lower on IQ tests than children of healthy mothers, according to a study conducted by Dr. James Haddow and partially funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and reported in the August 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
NICHD Researchers Discover Gene for Major Brain Structure
Researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered a gene that controls the development of the hippocampus, a brain structure crucial for learning and memory.
The Use of Secretin to Treat Autism
Secretin is a polypeptide neurotransmitter (chemical messenger), one of the hormones that controls digestion.
First Trimester Screening for Down Syndrome Possible, NICHD-Funded Study Finds
The first large scale study of its kind shows that effective screening for Down syndrome is possible before the 14th week of pregnancy--earlier than previous screening regimens have permitted, according to a study appearing in the April 2 New England Journal of Medicine.